The secret of chocolate’s happy power lies in the cocoa bean.
And what’s in the beans?
Some difficult words with easy sounds and good effects:
Theobromine
Caffeine
Anandamide
And a few others
Caffeine, what it is and its effects, everyone knows. Everyone who likes and drinks coffee.
And theobromine? It is also an alkaloid that can:
– Stimulate heart activity and dilate blood vessels.
– Influence the activity of the vagus nerve and thus have an antitussive effect (more so than codeine).
– Relax smooth muscles (including those in the bronchi), making it helpful in asthma.
– Have a diuretic, i.e. diuretic effect, and a spasmolytic, i.e. diastolic effect
– Reduce muscle tension, i.e. have a myorelaxant effect.
Anandamide – is a psychoactive substance that is also secreted during sleep, relaxation and exercise. It acts to improve mood and increases endurance and resistance to pain.
How do we link this action to feelings of happiness?
Just look at what happens in our body in moments of happiness.
– the heart beats faster
– blood circulates faster
– we feel relaxed
– we feel no pain
– we feel good
And this is caused by theobromine and anandamide from the cocoa bean.
Does every chocolate contain the same amount of these? That is, which chocolate gives you more happiness.
Not every chocolate contains the same amount of happiness. Only in the one that contains the most cocoa pulp, i.e. dessert chocolate, known as dark chocolate.
Beware, this kind of chocolate is only for connoisseurs who prefer dark chocolate to white or milk chocolate. The more additives (read diluents), the less theobromine and the less happiness.
And even though a bar of chocolate is over 500 kcal, just a cube is enough to make you dream and experience the relaxing effects of feeling happy in your body.
Chocolate will give you happiness! Or always?
Always, and I write this while rubbing a portion of a small and bitter portion of happiness on my palate, which makes my heart beat faster, makes my blood circulate faster and relaxes my tense muscles. In a word – HAPPINESS, and it’s chocolate. Enjoy it and … no remorse.
I once went to Cologne, to the Chocolate Museum, in search of chocolate happiness. I must admit that it didn’t end with a cube of happiness. There, I had a whole fountain of happiness.
Interestingly, it is the only museum that does not benefit from a state subsidy. The reason? It is economically self-sufficient. Pilgrimages for chocolate happiness are on the calendar of many a traveller.
I encourage you too. Pictured here is a fountain from the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, how very chocolatey (source: Wikiwand,com)
Chocolate greetings.
